Why Use Blackboard: Discussion Board Forum Participation

As we mentioned in the related Discussion Board Forum response, the Discussion Board in Blackboard can provide a lively space for students to discuss the readings for your course - and other course content as well. When it works well, the forum can become a space that extends class discussions beyond the class meeting time - and that can also provide issues for the subsequent in-class discussions. If you actually have time to read the postings before class - which can be a challenge when a discussion forum becomes very active - you can refer to postings in class, ask particular students to expand on what they said in the forum, ask others to respond to ideas expressed, etc.

As has often been argued in the literature on Computers and Writing and Computer-Mediated Communication, asynchronous online discussion forums like Blackboard's Discussion Board tend to some extent to "level the playing field." In other words, in typical face-to-face discussions, only a handful of students tend to participate the most frequently: those highly comfortable in such settings. Others tend to remain silent, not expressing their thoughts publicly. In online forums, student participation tends to be much more widespread - especially if you've made participation a clear part of the overall grade for the course. In addition, students have time to reflect upon and re-read their contributions before submitting those contributions to the forum. If you've specified a minimum acceptable length for postings, you're likely to find students articulating their ideas in surprising detail and length. You may also be surprised by the range of responses by students, connecting with the course materials in ways you would never have anticipated.

Written by Leslie Harris, originally for the Office of Instructional Technology at the University of Scranton. Revised with permission and adapted to the Bucknell University Blackboard environment. Last revised August 12, 2008.  Please send questions or comments to itec@bucknell.edu.